Criminals Are Raking in Monero with Mining Malware

One of Monero’s key selling points is that it allows users complete anonymity for its users. While the principle is sounds good in principle to use a hard to trace digital currency, the reality is grimier.

A recent research paper produce jointly by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and King’s College London, respectively, finds that Monero is the most popular cryptocurrency amongst hackers. Of the $16.6 billion Monero currently in circulation, their paper estimates that 4.32% of that, or approximately $33 million at current prices has gone to criminals.